


Part One of a Three-Part Series That Can be Read in Any Order

by Jedijuana



Series: A Three-Part Series That Can be Read in Any Order [1]
Category: Dragonball, Dragonball Z
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5742001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jedijuana/pseuds/Jedijuana





	Part One of a Three-Part Series That Can be Read in Any Order

It was cold. It was cold and Goku was angry. He was furious. He was mad enough that when he stormed away from Vegeta this time, he shut the curtain leading into his room. It may not have seemed like much, but he knew it pushed Vegeta’s buttons.  
  
He was tired of Vegeta always ignoring him, and brushing him off, and not telling him things, and acting like he was something else all the time. [a/n: he think he hot shit] Lately it had seemed he was doing it more, growing more and more distant, leaving Goku alone for several days at a time. Goku’s temper, sharpened by prolonged numbness and shivering, finally boiled over, and he snapped at Vegeta. It wasn’t a long fight, but each of their tempers surged with every word said until finally something snapped.  
  
“If I didn’t keep coming back to you like this, you’d let me die!” he yelled. He was silent for a moment, breathing heavily. He couldn’t read Vegeta’s face. “Just admit it,” he added. “You don’t care.”  
  
Suddenly Vegeta snapped back. “The only reason you’re alive right now is because you cling to me like a child! Your life is inconsequential to me! You mean nothing!”  
  
Goku didn’t say anything past that. He glared at Vegeta one last time then stormed out. Some time later, he went back inside and shut the curtain to his room. Right now, he was sitting in the middle of his bed, trying his best to retain what little body heat he had left by burying himself in blankets and limiting his movement, and staring at his doorway. Unfortunately, the curtain covered the entire doorway quite well, so he couldn’t see what Vegeta was up to.  
  
His breath hardly felt warm on his hands anymore, whether that was because his fingers were numb, or his breath was cold, it didn’t matter. He had stopped shivering something like 30 minutes ago. It could be more or less, there was no sure way of knowing, since time moved so strangely out here. His mind was just a fog, it was almost exhausting to think of anything but how angry he was. His face felt stiff, and he wasn’t sure how well he would be able move if he needed to.  
  
But none of it mattered. Vegeta had told him he didn’t care. Told him to go die. So Goku decided he would do that. He periodically assured himself that Vegeta would give in out of worry any moment now, but in actuality, he couldn’t really be sure of anything.  
  
He could feel a strange surge of calmness inside him. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, since he was so angry, but nonetheless it was there. Calmness and apathy. He was sure Vegeta would come soon.  
  
~~~  
  
It was warm. Not quite worth acting upon yet, just at the line between tolerable and slightly uncomfortable. Vegeta opened his eyes and looked around, not that anything had changed. He was sitting in the space above his house, favoring silence and distance over arguing and proximity.  
  
He was still mad. Goku always thinks he can boss Vegeta around, as if he wasn’t the god. Although, Vegeta was surprised the idiot hadn’t come crawling back yet. He always seemed like the type to forgive and forget quickly. He had almost thought Goku was about to attempt a reconciliation, when he walked back in, but when he simply glared at him again and walked straight into his room, Vegeta had to assume Goku was still mad. It may have been a good thing too, since Vegeta had been nowhere near the mood to reconcile. Then Goku shut his curtain, and Vegeta had to walk outside. He took up his current spot above his house and sat there.  
  
How long had it been since that fight, anyway? Maybe something like three days. Vegeta had been sitting up here since then. He was still angry, of course, but he was beginning to heat up. Getting too hot would mean he’d have to ditch his current physical form, and he’d grown attached to it. Losing it and remaking it wouldn’t necessarily mean it would have to change all that much, it just meant he’d have to expend more energy than he felt like. Plus, it was always embarrassing when a physical form started to fall apart.  
  
He stood where he was, adjusted his clothing, and floated down to the ground. Or the plane that was parallel to the entrance of his house. There wasn’t really a ground in space, just an infinite emptiness where you could choose to step.  
  
Three days should have been enough for Goku to cool down. Besides, it was boring when Vegeta was ignored.  
  
Upon entering, he saw that Goku wasn’t anywhere visible, and the curtain was still shut. He took a deep breath to push his anger back down at the sight of the curtain. He walked up to the doorway and paused in front of the curtain. He didn’t hear any movement from the other side.  
  
He pushed through and surveyed the room. Goku was curled up under some blankets on the bed, facing away from the doorway. How could he sleep if he was so angry that he would make Vegeta come to him? His feet were sticking out from under the blankets, displaying the boots he was still wearing. Vegeta decided to let it go this one time.  
  
“Hey,” Vegeta grunted. Goku didn’t respond.  
  
“Look, I understand if you’re still angry, but ignoring me right now is childish,” he continued. He growled when Goku still didn’t respond. Maybe he really was asleep.  
  
He gripped Goku’s shoulder. “Wake up. I’m ready to talk now if you are…”  
  
Goku still made no movement. Did humans really sleep that deeply? No, that couldn’t be it, he’d woken Goku plenty of times before this, and it certainly didn’t take this much.  
  
He turned Goku onto his back and flicked his forehead. “Hey!” Something was wrong. Vegeta put his palm against Goku’s forehead. He was cold.  
  
The tiny possibility that had slunk into his mind moments before blossomed into a full realization. What Vegeta could only identify as anger surged up from his stomach and filled up his skull and pushed at his eyes from behind. He let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he took and blinked a few times.  
  
He knelt on the edge of the bed and slipped off his glove to hover his hand over Goku’s mouth. The lack of air hitting his hand confirmed it.  
  
He’d left Goku for too long. He’d far underestimated Goku’s obstinacy and overestimated his durability, and left him for too long. He let him die. How long were human companions supposed to last? Sure, it was a short time, but not this short. Not this short. He had barely been with Vegeta for two full years. They hadn’t even bonded yet, not really.  
  
And the last thing Goku ever heard from Vegeta was that he was completely dispensable. Disposable. Inconsequential and replaceable. Had he still been angry? Or had he actually believed Vegeta when he said he meant nothing to him?  
  
At that thought, Vegeta felt something behind his ribs. It almost… hurt? Like getting hit square in the chest. Whether it was because Vegeta’s body had only just caught up to the realization that it no longer had a companion, or Goku had managed to last up until then and died at that moment and what Vegeta was feeling was the contract breaking, Vegeta didn’t know. It hardly mattered anyway.  
  
The strange feeling churned his stomach and raced up his spine to squeeze his throat and fill his head. It was almost as if it was trying to push its way out through his forehead. Vegeta really didn’t know how to identify this feeling. It wasn’t anger, but in a way, it was. It made him want to be angry, so he didn’t have to feel this so much.  
  
Vegeta pulled the upper half of Goku’s larger frame into his arms. He brought their faces close together, studying his features. He really was a beautiful man. Vegeta ran his fingers along Goku’s soft jawline and cheekbones. He barely brushed his lips against Goku’s cheek and let them brush against Goku’s eyelashes. He didn’t know why he was noticing such details at that moment.  
  
Vegeta wasn’t sure why he suddenly thought about Bardock, but he did. He almost felt sorry for the older man, first he broke Bardock’s hip (among other things), and then he took his youngest son and ended up responsible for his death. Almost sorry. In the grand scheme of things, none of this mattered. By the end of his life, Vegeta probably wouldn’t even remember any of this, much less care about it. And to think he was even considered young by the other immortals, practically a child.  
  
It really was such a shame, Goku being his first companion, and to have it end in such a way. Vegeta could hardly admit it to himself, much less to anyone else, but he had gotten fond of Goku. The young man had been outright annoying at first, but he wasted no time in warming up to Vegeta. It would be quiet without him around.  
  
Vegeta pushed down the intruding thought of searching for a new companion, and pulled Goku closer. He maybe wasn’t quite ready to consider that yet. He wanted him back already.  
  
He wasn’t sure what the good of it was, since it was too late already, but all the same he kissed Goku. Hard. His lips were cold. When, after a moment, nothing happened, Vegeta settled for just holding his companion. Remembering how much Goku liked when Vegeta touched his hair, he ran his fingers through the thick locks that stuck up in odd directions. That always made both of them relax, and more often than not put Goku to sleep as well. He planted small kisses on Goku’s forehead, on his eyelids, on his cheeks. Somehow avoiding his lips made it seem less real. He resigned himself to sitting there until the truth became undeniable.  
  
~~~  
  
Vegeta pulled himself out of his meditative state. He hadn’t moved in the relatively short time since discovering his companion dead, almost a full day ago. He was still kneeling on the edge of the bed, holding Goku’s upper body. He felt strangely blank of emotions. Maybe he had spoken the truth when he said he didn’t care.  
  
He looked around the room. Goku hadn’t brought a lot of things with him, citing his lack of possessions on his person at the time he left. He brought the clothes he had been wearing at the time; a black sleeveless shirt, a greenish jacket with pants of a similar color, and the boots he typically wore, along with the contents of his pockets, which was a pencil, some coins, a couple smooth stones, a bolt, and a little, orange, glass ball with 4 red stars suspended inside it. Vegeta didn’t know of the significance of the little ornament, but had never bothered to ask. It must be a family item.  
  
With a deep sigh, Vegeta directed his attention back to the weight in his arms. He studied Goku’s face, thinking about how much he wanted to kiss him again, then pressed his lips to Goku’s. It was a long moment before he broke the contact. He pulled Goku close to himself one last time.  
  
It was a few moments later that he would swear he could almost feel the rise and fall of Goku’s chest as he took shallow breaths. It could only be his imagination, though. Maybe he was finally going crazy. If only it was true.  
  
Vegeta’s eyes flashed open. He couldn’t be imagining the slight movements against his body. He placed his hand over Goku’s chest, and indeed, it was rising and falling, however subtly. He could feel something else too, a low, pounding thrum from deep within. Vegeta gasped, a new emotion swelling up in his chest. He wasn’t angry. He squeezed Goku’s shoulder, almost hard enough to bruise him, but not enough to actually harm him. Vegeta raised his eyebrows at the slight contortion of Goku’s face. Goku exhaled heavily, possibly a failed vocalization that hadn’t gotten enough energy put behind it.  
  
At this, something in Vegeta’s chest fluttered. It wasn’t too late, he hadn’t lost his companion yet. He grabbed Goku’s face, and kissed him on the mouth over and over, as long and hard as he could, taking care not to block his air for too long at once.  
  
Vegeta didn’t bother to even open his eyes for several minutes, focusing instead on breathing the life back into his companion. He hardly needed to anyway, he could somehow feel when Goku’s eyes fluttered open. Goku looked up at Vegeta. His breaths were fast and shallow, but steady.  
  
“Sorry,” he whispered.  
  
Vegeta knew it really wasn’t all Goku’s fault, not even close. But he never was any good at apologizing. A half-growled “shut up” as he leaned in for more kisses would have to be good enough.  
  
And apparently it had been, since Goku pulled his shaking hand free of Vegeta’s, letting his fingertips brush over Vegeta’s arm as he lifted it to touch the other’s face, and finally settling it on the back of Vegeta’s neck. Goku pulled Vegeta down further, as if their faces could be any closer together, sighed, and kissed back in earnest.  
  
Vegeta felt Goku shuddering against him, with what he imagined to be waves of warmth crashing through his body. Goku’s breathing steadily became stronger, as did his grip on Vegeta. He gripped harder, and his kissing was less coordinated, and his breaths came more harshly. He gripped Vegeta even harder, lifting himself almost to a sitting position, and pulled his arm free from between them so he could rest it around Vegeta’s waist.  
  
He wasn’t used to people showing him such affection. Vegeta was hyper-aware, almost… embarrassed? He felt every breath that landed on his face, every place on his body that Goku had touched him tingled, everywhere where he could feel any of Goku’s weight against his own body felt warm, and there was another tight feeling in his chest.  
  
Then Goku shifted his weight, and in one motion slung his leg over Vegeta’s hip, and laid down sideways, pulling Vegeta with him. His kissing slowed down and deepened, and he said Vegeta’s name a few times. Vegeta never knew anyone saying his name could sound so happy.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Goku repeated after pulling back, biting his bottom lip.  
  
“Shut up.”


End file.
